Koopa's Personal Journal

Manager Problems

The past few days have not been so good, management wise. First off, one of the managers that I look up to has left the company to pursue his dreams of becoming a lawyer. He may not be my direct manager as he is managing a different team, but he has been one of my constant companions, and one of the few people that I can call my mentor (legitimately).He had been working and studying at the same time, which required a lot of effort on his part. The upcoming BAR exams is the main reason why he resigned, saying he needed to rest and focus, so he can pass.

In the chain of events that followed, the company had to assign a temporary replacement. The problem is, the choice of replacement was not the smartest in the world. A manager from another site took over, and automatically ruined the team that I have known for the last three years. We may not be from the same team, but we have been using a single room ever since we started, and for this substitute to ruin all the hard work that they’ve put in makes me start to wonder about the direction the company is heading.

Four people ultimately followed my mentor, and left the company. They did not want to leave, but they had no choice. They did not like how the new manager just took over and became the ‘Yes, man’. Thinking too much of making himself look good, to the expense of his subordinates. Too much stress in too little time during his tenure led to the downfall of the team.

I am sad to see them go, but relieved too since I have seen first hand what they have been through in a short span of time. To think that their temporary manager almost became my manager.

A few days afterwards, I have received another sad news. One of the programs that I am handling has decided to release a great number of people. They are basing it on the performance of these agents, but I have been skeptical of how they collect this data for a while now. Again, new managers are involved. And again, these new managers are too concerned with numbers, too concerned with making themselves look good that “their people” suffer.

One of my former trainees told me that her previous department (Department #1) was overstaffed, and that she was offered to be transferred to the department right across their bays (Department #2). She was offered additional monetary allowance to sweeten the deal. But a few days after the move, she was advised that the allowance was not going to push through, and that she is not allowed to transfer back to Department #1. This is only one of the few horror stories that I have heard. Coaching to improve has been neglected, and managing people out is the new norm, sadly.

These new managers came from within the company. The same company where I came from. I know a lot of more tenured managers and I know how they work. We have made it a point to try and retain the best people in the company, but when these new “managers” came in, with their own culture, it just broke our momentum. I don’t want to lose more people, but my hands are tied, and there is only so much that I can do.

I don’t like the direction we’re going, to be honest. I hope that someone notices the trend here, and bring back something that we lost: employee management.